Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The months of Nov. and Dec. kept us busy attending many festivals. We had the privelage of meeting many wonderful artists and crafters. I will be posting several general videos of the shows, and quite a few one on one videos with artists and crafters that we met. Hope you enjoy!

Chad was quoted as saying, "With the market flooded with cheap, gimmicky little nick-nacks, I've found it tough to find high quality apparel accessories that are unique in appearance and design. Thanks to the folks at Watto for providing for me a very nice addition to my wardrobe with their signature 'Winged Skull' buckle."

Aranda band members including Chad Roper, Dameon Aranda, Gabe Aranda, and Mike Walker originated their rock band in Oaklahoma City. Their first record Aranda, was released on April 22, 2008. They recently toured on the Buzzfest Tour with headliner Alice in Chains.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Visit their site at http://home.earthlink.net/~basfa/
Wow, never been to anything like this before and didn't know what to expect! The dealers were all put in a hotel meeting room so we didn't get to enjoy all of the activities, but I can assure you there were some interesting things going on.
Wish I could have attended the Ghost Hunting Techniques and Equipment discussion - could come in handy some day. You never know. The discussion on Star Trek: Heresy or new revolution wouldn't really be my thing, but apparently it was a lively banter. What I would have loved to hear was the talk on time travel. Where would you travel back or forward to? I think I'd like to visit Victorian times, but just for a day and only if I were a wealthy princess!
The guest speaker was Weston Ochse (http://www.westonochse.com/) who won the Bram Stoker Award which is equivalent to the Oscars, but for horror writers. I purchased his book Scarecrow Gods and got him to sign it! My first ever autographed book by an author.

Weston Ochse

Another really cool thing was meeting Noel Neil who was the second Lois Lane. She graciously agreed to take a pic with me. What a classy lady. Here's more info on her http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0624747/

Jon and I took a trip into the unknown and had our Tarot cards read by Lady Marretta. Watch out world! Looks like we're in for some good stuff comin' our way, so keep your eyes on WATT0!

Noel Neil and Mary

There was a small but fun costume contest. Check out some of the images. Sorry, they were moving around too fast for my amateur photographerness (is that a word?)

These were our neighbor dealers- they are true Renaissance folks

Bear the guy in the middle makes keltic armoty & forged items. You can reach him at

Finally there were my neighbor vendors. I've included a few images, but check out the video of all of them.

Liz of Bad Moon Books & sis Jen

you can buy their books on ebay

My new author friend Richard R Draude

He's not only an author but a computer guru and helped me with my computer.

I bought his book The Adam Eradication and now I have 2 books signed by their authors.

This convention was probably not the best venue for us as it was more of a sci-fi gaming crowd, but we had a lot of fun. We're looking into doing the big Fangoria Horror convention in CA, Will keep you posted...

Friday was freezing! Started off at 32 degrees which is pretty darn cold for Tucson! But, as the day went on the weather turned beautiful. There were over 170 artisans and food vendors. Lots of great artwork.
Sat was much busier and the weather warmed up to the proper Tucson temperature. Our neighbor artists were so wonderful and gave us lots of tips for showing. We were considered the “newbies” so they all took care of us.

The day started out cooooooooold, but ended up beautiful! We woke up EARLY (5am) and drove an hour and a half to get to the fairgrounds then set up.

The event benefited Diabetes which is an issue that affects so many adults and children in the US.
At about 9:30 the bikers came rollin’ in and the festivities began. Great music and a rockin’ bike show which Jon helped to judge. They also had all you can eat Mexican, burgers and Corona. AHHHHH a relaxing day in the sun with a full tummy and sold some buckles to boot!
Day ended early around 3 and we were back home and unpacked by 5. All in all a nice day for a great cause! Here’s a few pics.

As quoted on their website “Created by Christina Martin, The Backstage Artist Lounge is a private lounge installed backstage at major music festivals where sponsors connect with talented bands for product sampling and relationship building opportunities. ”
They have all sorts of great pics of band members with different companies products. Check out their gallery section http://www.backstageartistlounge.com/backstageartistlounge-gallery.php

They are a terrific group to work with and got us some fabulous shots of WATTO buckles with Motley Crue, Godsmack, Drowning Pool, Theory of a Deadman and Charm City Devils. To see which band members chose which buckle, check out our facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=308124&id=191510025176&ref=mf.
The band members were so awesome to take such rockin photos with our product.

Bevin Hamilton,one of Motley Crue’s dancers loved the buckles and ordered several more from us. We are waiting for pics from her. She was quoted as saying, “What I love about WATTO buckles is that they have taken creative metal work and made them so each one is unique. They are so rock and roll and I can’t wait to wear one at my next gig!” She’s such a doll!

Crue Fest 2 was a big success for everyone. We look forward to sponsoring one of the shows of Crue Fest 3 in 2010.

The Event was held at the lucious La Encantada Shopping venue at Skyline Dr & Campbell Ave in Tucson, AZ. (520) 615-2561. We were surrounded by beautiful architecture and landscaping and high end stores such as Coach, Bebe, Tiffany, Lucky Brand Jeans and Anthropologie to name a few. A great canvas for any artist to exhibit at.

We’re totally bored with talking only about us, so we’re going to try to highlight some of the artists and other vendors at the festivals we attend so you can feel like you were actually there. Plus, the other artists are just so cool they deserve a shout out!

Check out the slide show of the La Encantada show held on Nov 7th & 8th. The show included over 60 artists and craftsmen, plus entertainment.